Hannu Mikkola

Hannu Mikkola
	Mikkola in 1966
Personal information
Nationality	Finnish
Full name	Hannu Olavi Mikkola
Born	24 May 1942; Joensuu, Finland
Died	25 February 2021 (aged 78); Helsinki, Finland
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1973–1993
Co-driver	Arne Hertz; ; ; Christian Geistdörfer; Seppo Harjanne; ; Jim Porter
Teams	Ford, Toyota, Audi, Mazda, Subaru
Rallies	123
Championships	1 (1983)
Rally wins	18
Podiums	44
Stage wins	666
Total points	655
First rally	1973 Monte Carlo Rally
First win	1974 1000 Lakes Rally
Last win	1987 Safari Rally
Last rally	1993 1000 Lakes Rally

Hannu Olavi Mikkola (24 May 1942 − 25 February 2021)^[1] was a Finnish champion world rally driver. He was a seven-time winner of the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland and won the RAC Rally in Great Britain four times.

Career[]

Mikkola's 1970 World Cup Rally winning Ford Escort RS1600.

Mikkola's rally career spanned 31 years, starting with a Volvo PV544 in 1963, but his most successful period was during the 1970s and 1980s. The 1970s saw Mikkola a frontrunner in many international events, usually in a Ford Escort. He became the first overseas driver to win the East African Safari Rally in 1972, partnered by Gunnar Palm and again in a Ford Escort. In 1979 he made a serious challenge at the World Rally Championship title, ultimately finishing runner-up, only one point behind champion Björn Waldegård.

Mikkola was joined by Swedish co-driver Arne Hertz in 1977 and the pair were very quickly a force to be reckoned with, winning the British Rally Championship in 1978 in an Escort. The Mikkola/Hertz partnership lasted for thirteen years, through to the end of the 1990 season. He was partnered by Johnny Johansson for the 1991 season.

Mikkola was runner-up again in the 1980 season with Ford, but switched to the new Audi factory team for the 1981 season, to drive the revolutionary four wheel drive Audi Quattro. The partnership was successful from the outset: Mikkola led the 1981 Monte Carlo Rally, the Audi's first event, until an accident put him out of the event. He convincingly won the next WRC event, the Swedish Rally, but the Quattro had problems with reliability, and despite another win on the RAC Rally, Mikkola only managed third in the driver's championship. He won the 1000 Lakes and RAC rallies the following year, but did not improve on third position in the championship, ultimately finishing behind Opel's Walter Röhrl and teammate Michèle Mouton.

Mikkola in 2014

Mikkola driving a Quattro S1 at the 1986 Monte Carlo Rally

1983 was to be Mikkola's year. Four wins and three second places saw him and co-driver Arne Hertz finally take the World Championship title. With that, he until this day is the oldest rally world champion. A second place in the championship followed in 1984, behind his teammate Stig Blomqvist, but 1985 saw him compete in only four world rallies, with three retirements and a fourth place, and slip to 22nd in the final standings after the Audi team was overwhelmed by new Group B competition from Peugeot and Lancia. Mikkola remained with Audi until the 1987 season, winning the Safari Rally in a Group A Audi 200 that year, before switching to Mazda.

He remained with Mazda until entering semi-retirement in 1991, although he continued to make sporadic appearances on international rallies until retiring completely from motorsport in 1993. Mikkola has made brief appearances since then, including re-uniting with his co-driver Gunnar Palm for the 25th anniversary run of the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally (Mikkola won the original 1970 event and the 1995 re-run) and competing in the London-Sydney Marathon 2000 Rally, re-united with his 1968 1000 Lakes Rally winning Ford Escort RS1600 and co-driven by his oldest son, Juha Mikkola, founder of Canada Cup (floorball).

In September 2008, Mikkola took part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship. He was one of a number of former world champions to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007. In 2011, Mikkola was inducted into the Rally Hall of Fame along with Röhrl.^[3]

Mikkola died on 25 February 2021 of cancer at the age of 78.^[1]^[4]

WRC victories[]

#	Event	Season	Co-driver	Car
1	1000 Lakes Rally	1974		Ford Escort RS1600
2	Rallye du Maroc	1975	Jean Todt	Peugeot 504
3	1000 Lakes Rally	1975		Toyota Corolla
4	RAC Rally	1978	Arne Hertz	Ford Escort RS1800
5	Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto	1979	Arne Hertz	Ford Escort RS1800
6	Rally of New Zealand	1979	Arne Hertz	Ford Escort RS1800
7	RAC Rally	1979	Arne Hertz	Ford Escort RS1800
8	Rallye Côte d'Ivoire	1979	Arne Hertz	Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0
9	Swedish Rally	1981	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro
10	RAC Rally	1981	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro
11	1000 Lakes Rally	1982	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro
12	RAC Rally	1982	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro
13	Swedish Rally	1983	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro A1
14	Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto	1983	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro A1
15	Rally Argentina	1983	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro A2
16	1000 Lakes Rally	1983	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro A2
17	Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto	1984	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro A2
18	Safari Rally	1987	Arne Hertz	Audi 200 Quattro

Complete WRC results[]

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	WDC	Points
1973	Hannu Mikkola	Ford Escort RS 1600 MKI	MON 4	SWE	POR	KEN Ret											N/A	N/A
		Peugeot 504 Ti					MOR Ret
		Volvo 142						GRE	POL	FIN Ret	AUT	ITA	USA
	Milk Marketing Board - Ford Motor Co	Ford Escort RS 1600 MKI												GBR Ret
1974	Hannu Mikkola	Peugeot 504	C	C	POR	KEN Ret	C										N/A	N/A
1974	Ford Motor Co Ltd	Ford Escort RS 1600 MKI						1				Ret					N/A	N/A
1975	Fiat Rally	Fiat 124 Abarth Rallye	MON 2														N/A	N/A
	Hannu Mikkola	Fiat 124 Abarth Rallye		Ret				2
	Hannu Mikkola	Peugeot 504			Ret		1
	HM-Racing	Toyota Corolla Levin TE 27							1
	Toyota	Toyota Celica										Ret
1976	Hannu Mikkola	Opel Kadett GT/E	Ret	SWE													N/A	N/A
		Toyota Corolla Levin TE 27			Ret		Ret
		Peugeot 504 V6 Coupé				Ret		Ret
	HM-Racing	Toyota Celica 2000 GT							3
	Toyota Team Great Britain	Toyota Celica 2000 GT										Ret
	Hannu Mikkola	Peugeot 104 ZS									10
1977	Hannu Mikkola	Toyota Corolla Levin TE 27		Ret													N/A	N/A
		Toyota Celica 2000 GT			Ret			Ret	Ret				2
		Peugeot 504				Ret
1978	Hannu Mikkola	Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII		2		2											3rd	30
	Ford Motor Co Ltd							Ret
	Eaton Yale												1
1979	Ford Motor Co Ltd	Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII	5	5	1				Ret				1				2nd	111
	D.T. Dobie / Daimler-Benz	Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC				2								1
	Rothmans Rally Team	Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII					Ret
	Masport	Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII						1
1980	Esso	Porsche 911 SC	Ret														2nd	64
	Rothmans Rally Team	Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII		4	Ret		Ret				3		2
	D.T. Dobie / Daimler-Benz	Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC				Ret		2		3				Ret
	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica 2000 GT							Ret
1981	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro	Ret	1	Ret		Ret	Ret			3	4		1			3rd	62
1982	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro	2	16	Ret		Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	1	2	Ret	1			3rd	70
1983	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro A1	4	1	1	2											1st	125
1983	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro A2					Ret	Ret	Ret	1	1	Ret	2	2			1st	125
1984	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro A2	3		1	3		2	3	2			2	2			2nd	104
1984	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro Sport									Ret						2nd	104
1985	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro Sport		4		Ret											22nd	10
1985	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro Sport E2									Ret			Ret			22nd	10
1986	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro Sport E2	3														18th	12
1987	Audi Sport	Audi 200 Quattro				1		3				Ret					8th	32
1988	Mazda Rally Team Europe	Mazda 323 4WD	Ret	Ret	4			Ret				Ret			Ret		30th	10
1988	GM Euro Sport	Opel Kadett GSI				Ret											30th	10
1989	Mazda Rally Team Europe	Mazda 323 4WD		4							Ret				9		27th	12
1990	Mazda Rally Team Europe	Mazda 323 4WD	Ret	6						Ret							34th	6
1990	Mazda Rally Team Europe	Mazda 323 GTX												Ret			34th	6
1991	Mazda Rally Team Europe	Mazda 323 GTX	Ret	7	Ret			8			Ret					7	25th	11
1993	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Legacy RS		Ret						NZL							38th	4
1993	Toyota Castrol Team	Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD									7						38th	4

Trivia[]

Hannu Mikkola was involved in the only international rally to end in a dead heat. On the 1978 Burmah International, Mikkola and Russell Brookes finished equal on total stage times, but Mikkola won the event by virtue of having been faster than Brookes on the opening stage.

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Rallimestari Hannu Mikkolan koskettava kuolinilmoitus julkaistiin Helsingin Sanomissa – "Rakkaus on ikuista"" (in Finnish). 2021-03-14. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
^ According to World Rally Archive, Mikkola won 654 stages. Mikkola also won special stages in the following rallies that are not yet taken into account by www.juwra.com : 1 stage in Acropolis 1976(source: Sport Auto and Auto Hebdo), 1 stage in Sweden 1977 (source: Sport Auto), 10 stages in Acropolis 1977 (source: Sport Auto).
^ "New Inductees to Rally Hall of Fame". Neste Oil Rally Finland. 9 February 2011. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
^ "Rally legend Hannu Mikkola dies at 78". 27 February 2021.

External links[]

Sporting positions
Preceded by Walter Röhrl	World Rally Champion 1983	Succeeded by Stig Blomqvist
Records
Preceded by Björn Waldegård 11 wins (1973–1992)	Most rally wins 18 wins, 12th at the 1982 RAC Rally	Succeeded by Markku Alén 19 wins, 19th at the 1988 RAC Rally

[IS-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Rallimestari Hannu Mikkolan koskettava kuolinilmoitus julkaistiin Helsingin Sanomissa – "Rakkaus on ikuista"" (in Finnish). 2021-03-14. Retrieved 2021-03-14.

[Mikkola_stage_wins-2] According to World Rally Archive, Mikkola won 654 stages. Mikkola also won special stages in the following rallies that are not yet taken into account by www.juwra.com : 1 stage in Acropolis 1976(source: Sport Auto and Auto Hebdo), 1 stage in Sweden 1977 (source: Sport Auto), 10 stages in Acropolis 1977 (source: Sport Auto).

[3] "New Inductees to Rally Hall of Fame". Neste Oil Rally Finland. 9 February 2011. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2012.

[4] "Rally legend Hannu Mikkola dies at 78". 27 February 2021.

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